Re: Good idea sell my electronics to buy/build fast desktop
Gamer Outpost said:
A good rule of thumb is no more and $200 for every year you want your PC to last.
My Tips:
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1) Build your own
2) Get an AMD CPU (unless you get a good deal on an Intel)
3) Get an AMD Radeon GPU (unless you get a good deal on an Nvidia)
4) Get 8GB of RAM
5) Get a 430-500 watt PSU
6) Use Amazon and Newegg if you're building it yourself
7) Look into liquid cooling (best for overclocking)
Good luck froggy.
I would not say that is the rule of thumb. More money does not equal more years of use. As you can use the same hardware for years to come and still game. The lasting longer area would possibly be high to highest settings if we are talking upgrades towards the DirectX or openGL platform. However, DX11 is basically dead now as Windows 8/8.1 introduced D3D 11.5. Once the next OS rolls out (I believe late 2015 or early 2016 IIRC) DX12 is going to be the packaged deal. If you actually follow the version cycle that DirectX has been doing for years. Basically, my point being if he bought a moderate priced card now with DX11.5 support with fair Vram there really isn't much they are going to do to stop highest settings on that API.
// Not trying to rag on you or anything. You provide some good advice, but I want to add upon that.
2) This does not matter at all unless the games he plays are CPU usage heavy. Most games are not, but get something crazy programmed like Skyrim or maybe an RTS and an AMD cpu might be torn to shreds. Due to the whole AMD is not to good with single threading. Mantle can help though if you actually play a game with that API.
3) The way you make this sound is that Nvidia is down right superior in every way. AMD & Nvidia are pretty much neck and neck in the graphics department. Though they both have their advantages based off their different technology so again really comes down too the games you play. That & if you want crappy TressFX or PhysX without having to off-load to the CPU. (Personally, I think both are crappy & lack overall support to not even bother).
5) Not really a good idea to suggest a set size of wattage. This all depends on a lot of factors. USB, external drives, internal drives, GPU or GPU's, CPU, cooling system, et cetera he decides to put into the machine. AMD CPU's tend to drawl much more power & more so based on you get. (The one FX-9590 uses 220w and basically all hardware stores have it bundled with pre made water cooling systems). If anything he should get at least Silver or Gold certified if he plans to use it for very long game sessions. Personally, I think it would be best to get an idea of what they want in the machine & then calculate the wattage to figure out which PSU they need. Buying a little extra is not a bad thing either. Buying to much does not equal usage of that much power either. Though too much can mean a very small drop in sufficiency.
6) Due to the fact he is from Canada I would suggest NCIX as they are local.
7) Water cooling is great, but not just for overclocking. Some places in the world during summer you basically need water cooling to not kill your computer. (California has 90 to 110ish temps at times). While it does cool your computer better, a big problem with water cooling is it heats your room up tenfold what air cooling would. As the heat is released at a better rate through your radiator. (You can get some pretty big rad's these days for computers too. Which can make your CPU/GPU's heat run at crazy low temperatures, as it releases the heat at a greater rate). Personally, I would suggest, for a newer builder to not build there own and get a kit. This way you get a nice overall system without making a mistake. AquaTuning puts together hand picked parts and sells them in kits.
http://www.aquatuning.us/index.php/cPat ... ikh0dmun23
